Which statement about treatment of glanders is correct?

Study for the ACVPM Infectious Diseases Exam with engaging quizzes, flashcards, and detailed explanations. Prepare thoroughly and enhance your knowledge to excel in the test!

Antibiotics can treat glanders, but they do not guarantee complete clearance of the organism. Burkholderia mallei can persist within tissues and mucosal sites, so animals that recover clinically after treatment may still harbor the bacteria and shed it, becoming asymptomatic carriers. This carrier state keeps the risk of transmission present and makes eradication difficult, requiring not just therapy but also strict surveillance, testing, and control measures such as quarantine or removal of carriers. There is no vaccine that reliably eliminates risk, so the concept you’re testing is that antibiotics can be effective but may leave behind asymptomatic carriers.